


Kill the Kitten, Cage the Tiger

by TheAzureFox



Category: Future Card Buddyfight
Genre: I love my Kitten Shirt son, I really do, my heart hurt while writing this, plz believe me, reinterpretation of Noboru's transformation into Tiger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 01:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAzureFox/pseuds/TheAzureFox
Summary: Strength. Power. Victory.In the end, Noboru Kodo loses his identity.





	Kill the Kitten, Cage the Tiger

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo, FCBF Ace aired and my love for this show surged back all at once and has taken over my life (sorry, VRAINS, but FCBF has everything I love and need rn). I definitely want to write pieces on Ranma and Yuga (and even Ranma x Yuga) once finals are over because oh my fucking god FCBF cannot stop creating adorable Buddyfighting sons for me to love
> 
> Anyways, this piece is actually pretty old. I wrote it right when I jumped into the fandom (at around FCBF Triple D) and right after I had finished the FCBF 100 season of Buddyfight (which, lemme tell you, despite the flack it seemed to get from the fandom at the time for various reasons was /really fucking good/. I cried at least 3 times during FCBF 100 because it's just so good at stabbing you in the feels...;w;). I'm also rewatching FCBF 100 right now and, gosh, it's still as good as I remember it if not BETTER then when I viewed it the first time around ;;

When Noboru finally awakens, he’s faced with the presence of a pearly white skull. Eye sockets of eternal black stare into him, swirling endlessly as the monster clutches his shirt and hoists him up from the depths of a portal. 

“You’re awake.” The monster doesn’t sound pleased or enthusiastic, merely amused. 

“Ugh, where am I?” The grogginess of his sleep crawls into his mind and, for a moment, Noboru forgets what is occurring. Then he takes a look around the depths of what seems to be a cave, gaze focusing on a white-haired girl in blue and the student council president from Aibo’s Middle School division. The blond boy scowls, remembering the latter with a disgusted loathing. “Judging from the stink, I’m going to have to go for an evil secret lair.”

“I am Gratos,” the skeleton monster says, ignoring him. “And I rule over victory and conquest. You, boy, have lost and when you lose you lose everything.”

Noboru snorts. “Yeah, right. And what are you going to do, hold me captive until Gao and the others find me? Well, dream on skull-face,” he makes a move to kick out with his right leg, aiming for a strike to the head. But, before he can even come close, a bony hand encloses around his ankle and the skeleton shakes its head at him.

“You are to become a pawn for Master Yamigedo,” Gratos continues firmly. “Dance, my puppet, and serve me well.” 

Suddenly, eyes of blue flames appear in the abyss of the monster’s sockets, azure burning into Noboru’s mind. The boy tries to look away, unsettled by the burning sensation that’s crawling into his body, but finds that he cannot. The monster has set bone fingers on his cheeks, forcefully holding his gaze in place. His entire self cries out, body set on fire, mind entangled by a web of mist and limbs failing to cooperate. The azure light whispers to him, speaks to him, drowning out all thoughts of his identity and beliefs. He fights against it, struggling desperately to rip his gaze away from the horrible sensation, but finds himself unable to break free from the prison that pins him down. 

“Gao,” he calls weakly, tears brimming the corner of his eyes. His friend is all he can think of, all that he can hope for. Gao will come, Gao will stop this terrible numbness that is consuming his life. He has faith. He  _ must _ have faith. Or else…

Or else he’ll...

All goes black.

~~~

Noboru is left in a void of white space. It’s a cold and unwelcoming area, bland and dull of anything interesting. All around him is white. White walls, white floors, white ceilings...everything is white.

“Hello?” he calls. “Uh, is anyone here?”

The scene shifts to one he’s familiar with: it’s Aibo Academy’s Elementary School division. The grounds are packed with students, all of which he doesn’t recognize, and a few Buddy Monsters are seen from place to place. It seems normal and Noboru wonders if his dream about a skeletal monster and a white landscape was just an illusion.

And, then, he sees Gao. The boy is wandering onto the escalators, followed loyally by Baku and Kuguru. Tasuku is also with them - which is rare, as the Buddy Police youth barely spent his time with the trio. Noboru, eager to join them (and perhaps to make an attempt at snarking at Gao), ascended the steps to pursue them.

“Hmm?” he hears Gao say just as he is within earshot. “You want to know who I consider to be my rival, Tasuku?”

The blue-haired boy nods. “I’m interested in who you consider worthy to fight against.” There’s a guilty shrug from Tasuku and an embarrassed smile

Noboru pauses in his ascent towards the group, leaning against the rails of the escalator. He’s curious, too, as to who Gao considers worthy as a Buddyfight rival and wants to see this conversation played out. 

The black-haired boy holds out a hand. “Well, let’s see,” the boy begins to count, “there’s Jin, Susana, Genma, Kiri, Ryoga, and Kyoya, I guess. Oh, and, you too, Tasuku!”

Kuguru adjusts her glasses, seeming troubled. “Isn’t there someone you’re forgetting?” she inquires with thoughtful concentration. “I’m sure there is.”

Noboru nods in silence, annoyed by Gao’s forgetfulness.  _ I literally just got back from America and he’s already forgotten about me?  _ He scowls, crossing his arms.  _ Geez, I can forgive being forgetful but,  _ come on _! _

Gao shakes his head after a moment of deliberation. “Nope, there’s no one else!”

Baku glances over to Noboru, light blue eyes locking with surprised green. Then, the boy smiles and turns to Gao almost mischievously. “What about Noboru?”

There’s a frown from Gao as he sighs. “No, I don’t consider Noboru my rival.”

Noboru nearly chokes, astonished and - dare he admit -  _ hurt _ by the careless consideration given to that statement. Kuguru, who seems to have caught on (and who is now giving Noboru a pitiful look), asks the question that Noboru himself is dying to have answered.

“Why?”

Gao’s gaze focuses on the top of the escalator. “He’s just not strong enough,” Noboru’s eyes widen. _ I’m not….strong? _ “He’s an okay-fighter but not nearly as skilled as everyone else. Plus, he not only lost to me but to Tasuku and Ikazuchi. He can’t call himself my rival if he can’t even defeat the one person who’s already defeated me. He’s okay as a friend but I don’t think I can see him as anything else.”

Noboru’s hands ball into fists and he doesn’t realizing that he’s biting into his lip until he draws blood from the broken section of skin. He’s angry and wounded and  doesn’t want to listen anymore. So, instead, he turns around and, in a rash hesitation of outrage and shock, flees from the group. He ignores the pitying glances he feels on his backside, he ignores the frustration that pounds at his mind (he’d trained hard enough, hadn’t he? He’d trained hard so that Gao would recognize him as a rival - he should be good enough by now!), and he ignores the sense of heat that prickles shamelessly at his eyes. He wipes at the liquid that’s streaming down his face, and looks at his wet wrist with annoyance. He shouldn’t be crying over something so stupid, he shouldn’t! 

(But the words hurt. The truth hurts. And he’s angry both with Gao and with himself. He shouldn’t have lost to Ikazuchi. He shouldn’t have lost to Gao. He should’ve won - yes, that’s it, he should’ve been able to beat Gao, to beat the Purgatory Knight, and he should’ve been able to defeat the one person who Gao couldn’t. But he didn’t, he failed, and now he’s nothing more than an incompetent fighter).

\---

When he’s through with running, Noboru takes the time to pause in front of a floral shop, eyes red and breath vanquished. It’s in his short time of rest that El Quixote makes his appearance, popping up from the deck in his bag to appear in a swirl of light. 

“What’s wrong, my boy?” the Dragon World monster asks. Rocianoto is at his heels, wagging his tail obliviously. “Don’t tell me you’re upset by Gao’s words. You’re a fine enough fighter as you are now. There’s no need to be concerned.”

“But fine isn't good enough!” he snaps. “I don’t want to be  _ fine _ or  _ good  _ or even  _ okay _ , I want to be one of the best! I want to be strong enough for Gao to acknowledge me as his rival!”

The man tilts his head. “Aren’t you a bit too obsessed with this? Becoming someone’s rival doesn’t do anything for you. Why care about becoming one - especially to someone who doesn’t see you as such?”

Something feels wrong. Noboru knows it does. El Quixote shouldn’t be speaking like this. At least, he doesn’t think his Buddy Monster would talk like this. He’s unsure now, lost in a swirl of frustration and hurt and shock. There are some facts that aren’t adding up: some facts aren’t aligning together like they should. Rather, there’s oddities to his situation that he can’t put his finger on. But, the honesty in Gao’s words distract him. He wants to be number one, he wants to be the best, but if he can’t even be seen as someone worthy of Buddyfighting against, than he might as well be number zero.

(“You could be the greatest,” a voice whispers into his ears. It’s soft and sweet, a lull of honey that makes Noboru falter. He wants to be the greatest, he wants to be the strongest. He wants to make Gao see him as his ultimate rival. 

“Power,” the voice says. “You need power.”

And, for a moment, Noboru considers it.)

“I’m not obsessed,” he replies hotly. “It’s just natural; to be the strongest you have to be better than someone else and, as I am now, I can’t be the best until I defeat Gao myself. He even beat Zanya, my former rival. Or, he would have, had Genma not interrupted the battle. Therefore, I have to defeat him in order to be the best.”

El Quixote shakes his head. “You’re misguided,” he says. “You won’t become worthy being the best because you lack the capability to do so. Admit it. You’ve seen the results of your battles. Compared to Gao you don’t have the skills to properly Buddyfight. You’re good as you are now, so why change?”

“Because I need to be stronger, I need to be better!” the desire and longing is suddenly inflamed and he feels an insatiable appetite that is nibbling at his soul. The words taste sweet and bring about it a sort of truth that he realized he’d been missing. He’s desperately weak. He needs power, he needs strength. 

(“I can give it to you, if that’s what you want the most.”)

The world falls to black and he’s standing back in the white room. It’s a place of utter silence yet he can hear the echo of everything. There’s voices, voices dipped in bile and Noboru shrinks away from the cacophony as it erupts into a giant maelstrom of words.

“Noboru?” a voice inquires. Noboru recognizes it: it’s Magoroku Shido, Aibo’s Student Council President. “Hah! He’s nothing more than a weakling! A coward, if you will. He lost a fight to me just last year - he just threw the fight because he knew he would lose!”

“That’s not true!” the blond boy shouts. “He blackmailed me into doing it!”

But the voices bubbled on.

“Kitten-shirt isn’t the greatest,” Noboru whips around to the sound of Hana’s voice. He’s half-tempted to shout out his usual phrase when her next words quiet him. “I mean, he thinks he’s cool or something but he’s really not. I once heard that he wanted to become a Dragon Knight but, really, that’s the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard! Humans can’t become Dragon Knights!”

He scowls, kicking at the white floor beneath him. His gaze scans the area for the source but he finds nothing, only endless structures of white in a room of nothing but white. “Hana wouldn’t say anything like that!” he says firmly to the walls. “I don’t know who’s doing this, but you’re wrong!”

“Even though he’s my Buddy,” El Quixote’s voice grows louder amongst the shouts of the others, “he’s too rash and cocky. He needs to learn to stop acting so childishly. Becoming the best is a fool’s task; he’s never going to become the strongest.”

Next is Kuguru’s voice. “I don’t really know what to think of him,” she murmurs in a voice that is just soft enough to be heard. “Noboru’s weird and he’s not someone that’s very memorable. When he left for America, hardly anyone cared.”

“In fact,” Baku adds, jumping in just milliseconds after his childhood friend, “when he came back, he was only welcomed by two people out of the entire class. But even they didn’t bother to care that much.”

“That’s wrong!” the boy spins, gaze scanning every nook and cranny of the box he is in. White, white, and white. He’s starting to get sick of white, sick of the voices, and sick of the implications that are being put into place. “Whoever’s doing this, just stop! It isn’t working! I know this isn’t what anyone thinks of me!”

Tasuku’s voice chimes in after Noboru finishes speaking. “Even though he claims to be Gao’s rival,” the boy speaks calmly, “he’s nothing more than an incompetent fighter. He wasn’t even good enough to beat me and he wasn’t able to do anything in the Gaen cup. After all, it was  _ Jin _ who actually did all the work in that tournament, not Noboru.”

“That’s right. He’s weak and lacks the skills necessary to do anything,” Zanya’s voice is unnecessarily scolding, as if he disapproves of the boy in question. “I can’t even see him worthy of anything, much less being the first place fighter.”

Noboru can’t take it anymore. The voices are penetrating, each sentence a dagger that slices at his pride, his beliefs, and his thoughts. He wants to shout something - “This isn’t right! They would never say that!” - but the words ring painfully true in his mind.  _ I’m going insane,  _ he thinks. The wall of voices closes in around him, dangling phrases of slander and insult that slice at him like invisible knives. White is still everywhere and it’s beginning to coat his skin. Every part it touches leeches out color, and he finds in absolute horror that it is absorbing him into the room itself. Noboru struggles against it, against the quicksand that is dragging him in and against the cacophony that threatens to break him, until he is left screaming.

One final voice reaches out. “I don’t consider Noboru to be worthy of being my rival.” Gao sounds so heartless and so uncaring that Noboru claps his hands over his ears, desperate to keep the words from pouring in. “It’s not that he’s a bad Buddyfighter or that he’s unskilled but rather, he’s simply not worth the time. He isn’t strong enough - that’s all there is to it. I have much stronger opponents to face; I can’t spend time fighting someone who’s only going to lose.”

_ Strength, power, victory... _ his thoughts all mesh together into the exact words of his desires. The voices are driving him to a desperate madness and he can’t resist the pull he feels.  _ I need strength, power, victory… _

(“You want to be great, don’t you?” a voice laughs.)

Noboru, distracted by the sudden appearance of a powerful presence, glances around. “Who are you?”  he demands.

(“I can help you, I can give you power.”)

He’s distrusting of the voice. He doesn’t recognize it, it’s new to him, but the confident tone of it leaves him craving more. “How?”

(It asks: “Do you believe me?”)

He falters. He doesn’t.

The voices magnify, a hundred times louder than they had been before. The harsh words stab at him again and again until he’s cowering away from them, covering his ears in agony.

(“I can make them stop.”)

The noise fades and a blanket of quietness rules over the white room. Noboru slowly removes his hands, anxious. The silence is a welcome bliss but he feels lost in it, mind churning without thought.

(“You know they were right,” the voice speaks slowly, almost cautiously. “You know you are weak. But I can help you with that, I can lend you power to become stronger.”)

“You...can?” the offer sounds too good to be true and, despite the mess his mind is in, he still finds a lack of faith in the talker. 

_ Strength, power, victory... _ A chant raises up in his mind. The longing is springing up again, embracing him. It’s a wound that is being pressed upon by some outside force, a string of words that is being threaded into his mind.

(“You want to become a worthy opponent, right? To fight against Gao? But he’s never going to accept you if you aren’t strong enough.”)

_ Strength, power, victory. Strength, power, victory. _

(“I can give you what you need. I can give you all that you desire. After all, you want the voices to be wrong, correct? You want to prove yourself worthy of becoming Gao’s rival. I can help. All I need you to do is to accept my offer.”)

_ Strength, power, victory.  _

“And if I don’t?”

_ Strength, power, victory.  _

(“No harm is done. But that means you’ll be going back to friends who doubt in your abilities. Are you sure you want that?”)

_ Strength, power, victory.  _

“No...I…”

_ Strength, power, victory.  _

(“Trust in me. I can provide you with the necessary power you crave.”)

_ Strength, power, victory... _

He looks up, up into the ceiling of white around him. “Alright,” he says. He’s convinced. He needs power, he needs strength, he  _ wants _ to be victorious. The voices  _ are _ wrong. He’s strong. But he’s going to need a way to show it. “I accept.”

Something sharp stabs at his mind, at his conscious. There’s a phantom feeling of a hand digging through his skull, grabbing up bits and pieces and rearranging them into a skillful puzzle. Noboru can’t resist the grip this presence has upon him, he can’t deny the change that is pushing through his body, pulsing malevolently inside it, but he can’t stop it either. He doesn’t want to. He wants to be stronger, he wants to be powerful, he wants - no,  _ needs _ \- victory. And, if he has to lose all of his identity to do so then so be it.

His name will no longer be Noboru Kodo.

**Author's Note:**

> There's technically a second (+third) part to this but the second part is unfinished and the third part /has/ to come after the second. 
> 
> The second part deals with Tiger living his new life yet forced to confront "Noboru Kodo" several times over (despite having no fucking clue who that is and getting really pissed that everyone refers to him as that). It would also have Tiger eventually become doubtful of himself, Gratos, and Yamigedo, only to end in fierce denial that gets broken when Miserea confronts him.
> 
> The third part is Noboru dealing with the trauma and after-effects of being brainwashed and being haunted by what he did as Tiger and trying to cope.
> 
> You can also say I'm a bit dissatisfied by some things in canon and this, iirc, was one of the things that annoyed me. FCBF could have really played around with Noboru's transformation into Tiger to make it more fun and, while I love the canon Tiger, I also kind of wished we could have seen Gratos mentally weakening Noboru through his pride and will to be important to Gao until Noboru eventually gave in to the temptation of "becoming stronger". 
> 
> It would have been a nice twist imo and put Noboru's feelings into perspective while also making Miserea's speech about being envious of Noboru more heart-wrenching because that supposedly envious relationship with Gao is exactly what Noboru feels he doesn't have.


End file.
